


Mold Me To Your Love

by MONANIK



Series: Multiship Short Fics [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artists, Artist Sugawara Koushi, Gay Sugawara Koushi, I spit a lot of poetry about summer and Kageyam, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Inspired by Pygmalion and Galatea (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Loneliness, M/M, Protective Sawamura Daichi, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Sugawara Koushi-centric, Teacher Sugawara Koushi, Unrequited Crush, pottery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23514388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MONANIK/pseuds/MONANIK
Summary: Sugawara is a lonely man in his thirties with a line of imperfectly perfect pottery. Pesterd by those around him to find a woman, he builds a life-like statue of the man of his dreams in spite and longing.What he doesn't expect is for his statue to come to life.Or: Pygmalion and Galatea AU
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Sugawara Koushi
Series: Multiship Short Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1155494
Comments: 13
Kudos: 71





	Mold Me To Your Love

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you @rainyluck for this brilliant idea

_When I fall in love it will be forever,_

_or I'll never fall in love.  
  
In a restless world like this is love is ended before it's begun,  
and too many moonlight kisses seem to cool in the warmth of the sun.  
  
When I give my heart it will be completely, or I'll never give my heart.  
And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too is when I fall in love_

_  
When I fall in love_

_  
When I fall in love with you._

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

Clay is moldable and supple.

It’s cool to the touch, and the texture of it so smooth where it glides against your skin, and the feel of dipping fingers into its tenderness is perhaps Koushi’s favorite thing in the world.

Koushi had been many things in life; a son, a painter, a friend, a lover—but never a sculptor.

When life took a drastic turn for him four years ago, back when everything went to hell and his years-long position as a teacher was cut short when the school lost its funding, he turned to art. It hadn’t, perhaps, been his brightest idea at the time, since Koushi only knew so much about the business aspects of it—but he’d loved it since he was a child. Sculpting and pottery were household traditions he’d grown right next to. So, naturally, he’d picket up things throughout his life.

Needless to say, when he returned to it, and opened the small business in the heart of Yamane, he was severely rusty. The first year was spent building his business and mass-producing a ceramics line he felt proud of. He knew anything bigger wouldn’t come until years down the line, when he’d grown back the same steady hands he once had.

Four years later he was finally ready to start on his biggest project yet.

It was to become a statue; life sized and inspired by the many great works of ancient masters of the craft. Smooth, grey clay would be spent in heaps, and would mold in time to resemble the finest man Koushi could imagine.

See, the thing is that Koushi wasn’t married. It was a fact his family often liked to half-jokingly rub in his face. He was well in his thirties by now, and if he kept it up he would end up dying alone. Or so they claimed. What they didn’t know was that Koushi had spent a great amount of time looking, searching, for that special someone, but he always came out empty handed.

No one was enough. There was something missing in every single one of the partners he’d had, and no matter how much he tried women simply weren’t his taste.

He couldn’t admit that to his family, of course. That was out of the question.

So, in spite, perhaps, and a little bit in pure lust, he decided that his first big project in clay would be a life-sized Apollo if he so pleased, and he’d proudly display it in his store once it was done.

Countless hours of work had, eventually and finally resulted in the most gorgeous man Koushi had ever laid eyes upon. Unfortunately, not a real one, but he might as well have been with how true to reality he was. Perfectly proportionate and life-sized. He was Koushi’s pride and joy, a work of blood, sweat and tears, and the base for what he was to become was finally done.

He knew before he’d even started working on him that he’d want him molded in bronze. There was no other option in his mind’s eye, really. With the help of some good friends he’d managed to find a crew and a business willing to aid him in accomplishing that. For a fee, of course, but Koushi had the money.

He’d had the money for a long time.

He stood one afternoon in his studio, smoothing out there very last details of the life-sized sculpture, when he was interrupted in his little bubble.

“I can’t believe you’re done already,” said a voice from behind him.

Koushi’s studio was really just the bottom floor of his apartment, which also happened to be connected with the shop, and it meant nosy Daichi had all the freedom of simply waltzing in and scaring the life out of him.

“Yeah,” he sighed and watched as his friend walked up to gawk at the tall sculpture, “I have to send him to the crew for the mold, and from then on out I’m practically useless for some time until the final product is at my door.”

Daichi traced the curves and dips of the embarrassingly naked and self-indulgent sculpture softly.

“He looks amazing,” he said, and it maybe, just maybe, made something in Koushi’s throat bob dangerously.

Daichi was completely and whole-heartedly straight. That much he knew. But growing up with someone as attractive and as kind-hearted, determined, as Daichi; it was only a matter of time until he’d realize what the fluttering in his stomach meant around him. Who could deny their heart its desires, after all?

Koushi liked to think he’d mostly grown out of his one-sided crush on his best friend. The man was married after all, and Yui was his perfect fit. She was kind and vicious like him, and they begrudgingly made the most gorgeous pair.

“Well, are we gonna celebrate or what?” Daichi asked and grinned, raising one hand to flaunt a grocery bag in which beer-bottles clanked temptingly.

Koushi laughed, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a break, but I still have a lot to work on for the next line.” He grabbed a towel from one of the hooks by the sink and dried his hands.

Daichi sighed dramatically from behind him. “You work too hard. You’ll wear yourself out like that,” he said.

Koushi merely smiled and undid his apron. “Go set everything up outside. I’ll be there in a minute.”

He looked like he wanted to argue more but gave in in favor of setting up the bottles on the table outside. Koushi silently thanked him for his quiet compliance and went to turn off the lights in the room, but not before casting a final look at the centerpiece of it all.

There, among discarded, dried bits of clay, tools and empty water-bottles stood he; the most gorgeous thing Koushi had ever made, tenderly graced by the afternoon sun streaming in through the open windows.

“You really are a sight for sore eyes,” he whispered to the statue, “Maybe one day I’ll find someone like you.”

He considered, for a second, the weirdness of talking like that to his own creation before turning and leaving the studio—closing the door behind him.

Daichi was waiting for him outside. The air was warm and the asphalt, too, felt nice beneath his bare feet. He took a seat opposite of Daichi in one of the cheap, plastic chairs, and took a sip of the ice-cold beer.

It slid down his throat like molten stardust and had his heart whooping in delight.

Birds sang from their perches on the powerlines above them. The sun, high in the sky, doused the empty, afternoon street in its warmth and made the horizon lines in the distance wobble in blissful freedom. Not a soul walked the street, aside from the occasional pensioner or a child or two out running errands for busy parents. The smell of freshly cooked dinners wafted through the air, and a low hum of someone’s music came in with the late-day breeze. It was a gentle day, and the cicadas made sure to assert that with their passioned chirring.

There was something serene and otherworldly about sitting there, at that time on that day, with Daichi and a beer. Like they were being graced with the presence of mother nature herself. Everything, for a moment, had been halted in its tracks. Time seemed to have stopped for their section of the world.

“Are you lonely?” Daichi eventually asked, breaking the silence, but his voice remained low and raspy. As if he’d been about to fall asleep in the welcoming atmosphere.

Koushi breathed a quiet, perhaps a little insecure, laugh and took a tentative sip of his beer. The condensation ran down his arm in icy droplets.

“What made you think that?” he asked, jokingly, “Was it the life-sized statue of pure sexual indulgence or the half-a-dozen paintings of half-naked men?”

Daichi snorted. “Something like that,” he said and tracked the happy strut of a poodle passing them by.

Koushi waved heartily to Miss. Suzuki, a regular at his shop. She smiled and waved back and stopped to ask about their day. Daichi took the opportunity to pet Peanut, who flopped down on his back at his feet the moment he saw Daichi’s outstretched hands. They chatted for a while, and then she left. Poodle loyally in tow.

Daichi hummed in thought. “She seems nice. Think she might be into you and I didn’t see a ring,” he stated, which only served to agitate Koushi.

He knew Daichi meant no harm with it, he just didn’t understand it all that well; Koushi’s preference that is.

“I love you but please never suggest that I date a woman ever again, Daichi.”

“Sorry, sorry,” his friend laughed, “I just wish you weren’t so lonely. I know it’s tearing you down; I can see it in your face, Suga.”

Koushi twirled the bottle between his knees, staring at a pile of ants by the foot of the table ravaging a crumb of some pastry someone had dropped.

“I’m fine Daichi,” he said, “I’ve come to terms with it.”

“No you haven’t, you’re just being defensive.”

“So?” he fired back, finally daring himself to look into Daichi’s worried eyes, “I’m not marrying a woman, Daichi. I don’t care how many are interested; _I’m not._ It’s gonna be a man or no one at all,” he finished.

The sun was well on its way down now, painting the sky in orange and violet.

“Why can’t you just accept that?”

It was a whisper, a plea, in the noise of the setting summer. Daichi swatted half heartedly at a mosquito on his thigh.

“It’s not that I don’t accept it, Suga,” he said, “But you live where you live. You can’t marry him, your mister perfect, whoever he might be. In actuality you can’t even walk the street holding his hand without the fear of judgement or, God forbid, worse.” He took a sip of his drink and Suga watched a fly land on the shell of his ear before taking off again.

“I _just_ want you to be happy.”

He turned, then, and looked straight at him with those brown teddy-bear eyes of his.

“I told you I’m content,” he said, and swallowed back the lump in his throat, “I’m an adult. I can decide my own fate.”

“I know that.”

Koushi watched his shoulders slump and almost felt bad for a moment, but he knew he was right. It was his life and his choice to do whatever he pleased with it.

“How’s Yui-chan?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

Daichi must have been just as eager to flee the topic of Koushi’s love life, for he took the bait.

“Yui’s fine. Her back hurts more and more by the day and the extra weight is not doing good on her legs,” he chuckled to himself, “She keeps asking for foot-rubs knowing I can’t rightfully say no considering her predicament.”

Koushi snickered and watched the lamp overhead flicker to life and shower them in its golden glow.

“Lucky you that she’ll be raising your kid,” he said and opened another beer. “Cheers to you and Yui,” he said and clanked his bottle against Daichi’s in the most silent statement.

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

_Come back and tell me why I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time,  
and meet me there tonight,  
and let me know that it's not all in my mind._

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

Night had long encased them in its fresh chill by the time him and Daichi parted ways. He to go home to a warm dinner and a beautiful wife, Koushi to go back into his shop and clean up the last of the day’s work.

It was a part of his day he never looked forward to, but always gingerly enjoyed nonetheless for its quiet and familiarity. It was routine, and a routine which allowed him to see his work in the poor light of night for a change. All colors and shapes and patterns shone like crystals in the care of the moon and the ceiling lamps.

He finished up in the shop, closed and turned the sign, and turned off all lights before making it into his studio.

Not bothering to turn on the bright studio lights in favor of protecting his eyes he went about the place picking up tools and cleaning the floor and stool he used, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He stopped mid thought, with the bucket still in hand, and turned to look at the epicenter of the room. His statue. But something was wrong.

It looked like it had melted for a second, in the dim light, and Suga feared that just might have happened considering the heat of that day, but his brain caught up when he realized his clay didn’t work like that.

Had it fallen over? If so, it was surely ruined, he thought, but when he got closer, he could clearly see the problem; what had given him shivers all along.

The statue hadn’t fallen, nor had it miraculously melted. No, the statue had _moved._ Not an inch to the left or right— it was _sitting_ down.

It must have been the alcohol getting to him, he thought. That, or someone had broken in, stolen his statue and in its stead left…

A person?

The man on the stand was breathing slowly and deeply. Koushi could see the rise and fall of his chest in the way it cast a moving shadow over the floor. He could also, in his delirium, recognize the pattern of muscles on his back, and the dip of his hips which he’d spent so many hours on perfecting.

No, it couldn’t be, but before his eyes sat Koushi’s own statue. _Sat,_ after he’d spent a year making sure it _stood._ Hours and hours of daily work had been spent making sure he was balanced and steady. Koushi _knew_ his statue, and he _knew_ it hadn’t been sitting.

And it had certainly not been breathing.

He took a step closer on shaky knees and was about to open his mouth, to say something, when the man of his dreams turned to look at him.

He was gorgeous. Not at all colorless like he’d been, but rather so vibrant he looked as if the blue night-sky had spilled into his hair, and the afternoon one into his eyes. In his them was a twinkle so light and pretty Koushi could only see it clearly when he got closer, and the two eyes he’d so gently molded to rival the perfect curves of almonds were now decorated with the most gorgeous lashes Koushi had ever seen on another human being.

Everything from the texture of flawless skin to the supple, rosy flesh of his lips and to the dips and curves of a body sculpted to perfection looked so real and touchable Koushi couldn’t resist but to reach out a hand and softly brush away a stray strand of black hair.

“Who are you…?” he breathed in awe, and watched perfect eyes widen a fraction before dropping to the floor.

“I’m not sure,” the perfect creature mumbled to the stand he sat upon, “I think that’s your job to decide,” he said and rose his head to look Koushi right through the soul.

“You can’t be real,” Koushi said, “I made you out of _clay.”_

The perfect thing had he audacity to smile. “And I was breathed life into, so give me a name and I’ll be yours forever.”

Koushi jerked back in shock. His hand burned where it’d been touching soft, warm skin.

“A name?” he asked, to which the man nodded.

“A name. Any name,” he said.

“And who breathed life into you?” he asked.

The perfect creature blinked, slowly, and shook his head. “That stays with me, I’m afraid, but know it’s a gesture of affection from someone who’s seen you, Koushi-san.”

Koushi hacked a short and clipped laugh at that and ran nervous fingers through his hair.

“I can’t do that to you. It doesn’t feel right,” he confessed, and watched the man of his dreams pout and tilt his head in question.

He rose, slowly, and in all his tempting nakedness walked up to Koushi. This close, he could feel his height rather than see it. He was a good head taller at least and standing so close to him Koushi could smell the scent of lavender on his skin. His favorite flower and most cherished shampoo.

“I was there, all along. I was given a choice, and I took it, because I’ve seen the care with which you built me from the bottom up, and I have no doubt in mind you’d do it for the live me as well.”

A big, warm hand cupped the side of his face gently. “So, please, give me a name,” he whispered right into Koushi’s ear.

It sent a shiver down his spine and waves of warmth coursing through his veins like the thickest, sweetest honey.

Koushi took a step back and stared at the man before him, at the shadows that graced such sharp, delicate features, and at the ink of his black hair.

“ _Tobio,”_ he whispered and watched the sparkle in those eyes flicker once before Koushi, unexpectedly, had is arms full of a beautiful man.

_What now?_ He thought as he carried him to bed, which proved to be a struggle. _Tobio_ was heavy and long, but he managed, and as he lay tucked under Koushi’s covers he caught himself tracing the lines of his features and the soft flutter of his lashes before drifting off to sleep, too.

In his heart he knew that he’d wake to an empty bed and the worst headache in existence.

He just didn’t want to admit that in that moment, underneath the light of the full moon and twinkling stars.

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

_When I grew up and fell in love, I asked my sweetheart, "What lies ahead?_  
_Will we have rainbows day after day?"_  
_Here's what my sweetheart said:_

_"Que sera, sera_  
_Whatever will be, will be._  
_The future's not ours to see._  
_Que sera, sera_  
_What will be, will be."_

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

Koushi didn’t wake to an empty bed, no, he woke in the warm embrace of another. Or, rather, he’d nuzzled himself as close to the stranger in his bed as he could.

He jumped out of his warmth and gasped in shock at the sight of the naked figure laying in his bed. A warmth so furious it stung his cheeks rose to the apples of his face. It made him squirm and groan in embarrassment, but he cracked an eye open regardless to stare again at the beautiful sight before him.

Last night’s encounter flashed through his mind and he remembered a name as clear as bell-chime in his ears. _Tobio._

Tobio lay spread out over his violet sheets, which only enhanced the richness of his skin and the texture of his silken hair, and made all the beautiful nooks and curves of his body light aflame in the warmth of the morning sun filtering in through his window. The stripes of gold across his stomach and chest made him seem unreal, which he, perhaps, was.

Perhaps he was nothing but a figment of Koushi’s lonely imagination. Perhaps Daichi had been right all along and he should have just married a pretty girl like his parents whished for him to. Maybe then he wouldn’t fall to delusions and hallucinations.

But Koushi knew he wasn’t drunk, and when he reached out a hand to trace fingers down the arch of his shoulder he could feel the texture of his skin and the warmth of life seeping out of him, and he knew he was, miraculously, real.

Tobio squirmed and fluttered his beautiful eyes open to frown at Koushi. An apology was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it at the sight of two matching skies gazing up at him. The summer sun made them seem entirely unreal. So blue and bright it almost stung to look at.

“Mornin’,” hummed Tobio and stretched his hands above his head.

He sat up, groggy and ruffled from sleep, and everything in Koushi’s chest jumped and soared in heat and joy at the sight. How much he’d longed for mornings like this, for a sight like Tobio.

Tobio in the morning seemed a lot grumpier, and as the day went on Koushi realized he wasn’t as talkative or smooth as the night before. Something in him had switched, and it only made him adore him more.

This Tobio seemed too human to be true. He was a sloppy eater, and had a short temper, and yet was the most determined pupil he’d ever had

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and all the while Koushi had to keep Tobio away from Daichi’s prying questions. He could tell Daichi knew something was up, since Koushi had suddenly stopped talking about his big project, which was coincidentally also removed from his studio, and Koushi knew Daichi recognized Tobio.

He’d watched his friend build him up over the years. Of course he knew. But Daichi asked no questions. He hummed and nodded and asked Tobio about his day and about working with Koushi, and Koushi in turned blushed every time he sent him a sly grin and a wink whenever Tobio helped him carry something, or came up from behind to wrap his arms around his waist and lean into his neck.

Finally, the dam broke four months after Tobio’s sudden appearance.

“How?” asked Daichi.

They stood leaning on Koushi’s balcony, overlooking the front of the shop and the narrow street beyond it. Tobio was downstairs, working on the next line. He was a fast learner and Koushi regretfully had to admit that he was, perhaps, way on his way of surpassing him.

He wasn’t sure whether he liked it or not, but nights spent in his company made him tilt in favor of Tobio and his otherworldly hands.

“I don’t know,” he answered, truthfully. “That night, after our talk, he was just… _there._ Sitting on the stand in the moonlight. Quiet as the dead until I noticed something was off and approached.”

Daichi nodded in quiet. The air had gotten chillier with the approach of fall, and the leaves of the trees in the distance were turning a beautiful sunny color.

“What if he disappears one day as quickly as he arrived?”

Koushi traced the band around his finger silently for a moment.

“Don’t we all eventually do just that?” he asked instead and watched as understanding dawned on Daichi’s face.

“I’m glad you found him, Suga,” he said and smiled.

Koushi smiled in kind. “He was the one who found me, all I did was give him a vessel,” he said and smiled back. “There’s so much more to him than that, and that’s what I’m really here for.”

They rejoined Tobio in the studio, and Koushi took a seat right next to him so he could lean into his side as he worked, and if he got clay all over his pants because of it he wasn’t one to complain.

And Tobio, well, he was smiling for a change.

**Author's Note:**

> The songs in this fic in order:
> 
> \- When I fall in Love by Celine Dion  
> \- Everything has Changed by Taylor Swift  
> \- Que Sera, Sera by Doris Day
> 
> All comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <3  
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
